1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shipping rack for shipping of a plurality of finished vehicle parts in spaced relationship. More particularly, the present invention relates to a shipping rack for shipping of finished interior door panels.
2. Prior Art
In modern manufacturing, it is common practice to assemble completed units at a single location from various parts and components which are shipped to the assembly location from other locations. The parts and components are normally fabricated in facilities remote from the assembly location and shipped to the assembly location in various shipping containers.
For instance, door panels of the type which are attached to the interior of a door for decorative purposes are often produced with a finished show surface portion which is readily seen from the interior of the vehicle, whereas the back portion of the panel remains unfinished and can not be seen from the interior of the vehicle. During shipping the finished show surface must be well protected in order to keep its new looking appearance. In the past, these parts were shipped in cartons or the like by separating one part from another with packing materials, such as by individually wrapping the parts. While such packing for shipping was generally adequate, at times, the parts could be damaged during shipping due to rough handling and/or shifting of the packing during shipping.
Prior to the assembly process the parts had to be manually unpacked and carefully handled until the final assembly operation was complete. Delays in production were often caused because of the time consuming nature of such an operation.
Also, because of the use of packing materials, a great deal of disposable material was involved and had to be dealt with during unpacking. Disposal of such packing materials proves to be costly and wasteful in the present day manufacturing climate.
In assembly line manufacturing operations of today it is common to assemble more than one vehicle model on the same assembly line. While the vehicles assembled are similar, there are sometimes slight variations in a particular part such as a door panel. In the past, it has been common to utilize separate shipping apparatuses for each type of part. These separate apparatuses complicated matters in that mixed shipments could not be easily made. It was also necessary to keep these apparatuses separate to ensure that the proper type of part was shipped in the proper shipping apparatus, thus, adding to the inefficiency of the shipping operation. From a materials handling perspective it is desirable to provide a shipping apparatus which can adapt for shipping of similar parts, with slight dimensional variations, to accommodate such an assembly operation, without the added expense or necessity of providing a separate shipping apparatus.
Therefore, it has been a goal in the art to provide a shipping device which allows easy packing of finished parts in separated relationship, such that the part's finished surfaces do not get damaged during shipping. It is a goal also to provide for easy removal and unpacking of the parts at the assembly location such that manufacturing time delays do not occur due to the shipping container used. It has also been a goal in the art to provide a shipping container which allows for shipping of slightly different dimensioned parts for assembly at a common location and which is reusable so as to avoid the problems and costs associated with disposal of used shipping materials.